Rich list finds consumer gold mine in Yangtze River Delta

One out of every 166 residents in the Yangtze River Delta region possess personal assets worth a total of at least $1 million, according to the Hurun Yangtze River Delta Wealth Report.

There are 346,000 people with assets of at least 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) in the region, a year-on-year increase of about 6.1 percent. The number of rich people with assets worth more than 100 million yuan reached 20,800 this year, up about 4.8 percent, according to the report, the first of its kind focusing on the region.

"The Yangtze River Delta region hosts the largest number of high-level consumers," said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report.

The region is also home to about 1,000 of the 2,500 of wealthy individuals with a personal wealth of more than 2 billion yuan.

Apart from Shanghai, the cities that host a large number of rich people include Hangzhou, Suzhou, Ningbo, Shaoxing, Wenzhou and Wuxi.

Zong Qinghou, chairman of the beverage maker Hangzhou Wahaha Group, is at the top of the rich list in the Yangtze River Delta region, with personal assets worth a total of 68 billion yuan.

Taobao, China's largest online retail platform based in Hangzhou, Suning Appliance, one of China's largest home appliance retailers, and Wahaha, are the three most valuable private brands based in the Yangtze River Delta region, said the report.

The report also found that individuals with personal wealth of at least 100 million yuan are mainly comprised of three types of people: enterprise owners, real estate speculators and professional shareholders.